Wassail

Growing up, my family always had lots of traditions around the holidays.  Now that I'm starting my own family, I've been trying to find my own traditions to start.  In college, I had tried a non-alcoholic version of wassail, and it was pretty good.  I figured, if I could find a good recipe for wassail, it could become a new Christmas tradition.

I think it will.

Wassail

(Makes a large punch bowl worth.  Around 2 quarts.)

I found the original recipe on Nourished Kitchen.  Here's my slightly modified version:

4 small apples

1 cup unrefined cane sugar

1 medium orange

13 whole cloves

2 quarts hard apple cider

1/2 cup brandy

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp grated nutmeg

6 allspice berries

2 cinnamon sticks

6 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut into the top of each apple with a paring knife, and then scoop out the top half of the core with a spoon.  Fill the hole with about a tbsp of cane sugar.  Stick the cloves into the skin of the orange.  Place the fruit onto a cookie sheet and bake for 40 min.

Pour the cider and brandy into a large pot.  Warm over low to medium heat, and do not bring to a boil.  Stir in the ginger and nutmeg.  Place the allspice berries and cinnamon sticks in a colander or strainer, and then place the strainer in the pot.

Separate the eggs.  Beat the yolks until light in color, and beat the whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold the yolks into the whites.  Measure out a half cup of the wassail and slowly pour it into the egg mixture.

Remove the strainer with the all spice berried and cinnamon from the wassail and pour in the egg mixture.  Once the fruit has finished baking, transfer the wassail to a punch bowl and float the fruit in the wassail.

The bread in the picture is panettone.  It's real tasty. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I may not care about football all that much, but I do like me some football food every once in a while.  This one is really quick, and it's one of those dips that everyone can't stop eating.

2 Chicken Breasts or Thighs
8 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Hot Sauce (Frank's Red Hot gives a classic buffalo chicken flavor, but feel free to experiment with you favorite sauces)
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Chopped Celery
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese

Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks.  Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, add oil, then saute the chicken until cooked.  Reduce heat to low, then add cream cheese and hot sauce.  Stir until the cream cheese is melted.  Return to medium heat and add ranch dressing and celery.  Stir to combine.  Add shredded cheese and stir to combine.  Remove from heat as soon as the cheese is melted, to prevent any oil from separating from the rest of the dip.  Serve with chips, celery sticks, or what ever else you think would go well for dipping.

Burmese Spiced Yogurt Chicken

I like cooking chicken dishes, and especially like ones with a variety of spices.  This pretty much fits the bill.  The original recipe (with more tasty looking pictures), can be found on Girl Cooks World.

4 pieces chicken breast or chicken thighs, chilled
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup green onions

Mix together the yogurt, garlic, ginger, salt, turmeric, cumin, paprika and cardamom in a large bowl.  Add the chicken and stir to coat the chicken.  Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish. Spoon out any of the remaining yogurt mixture onto the chicken.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Heat some oil in a skillet over high heat.  Add the green onions and stir until well-coated in oil. Spread into an even layer.  As the onions begin to brown, start to stir again.  When most of the onions have browned, remove from the heat.  When the chicken has fully cooked, top with the fried onions.

That's Naan bread next to the chicken.  I will have to do a post on that at some point.

Banana Muffins with Crumb Topping

Muffins always make for a nice breakfast or snack.  Be careful not to bake these too long though, or the crumb topping will start to melt and will get decidedly less crumb topping-like.

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 bananas

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  In another large bowl, mash bananas with a fork, then add in sugars, egg, oil and vanilla.  Mix thoroughly, then add in dry ingredients and mix again.

Coat muffin tins with butter, then divide the batter into 12 tins.

To make the crumb topping, combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add butter, then mix with a fork until crumbly.  Sprinkle topping onto muffins.  Bake muffins for 20 min, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Yogurt

Yogurt has a lot of uses.  Not only can you eat it by itself, but plenty of recipes call for yogurt.  If you use it a lot, it becomes much more cost effective to make it yourself, especially if you use Greek yogurt.

Makes 1/2 gallon of yogurt, or 1 quart of Greek yogurt.

1/2 Gallon Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt

Pour milk into a large pot or double boiler.  Cover the pot, then heat the milk on medium high.  Stir the milk often until it reaches 85-90 C (185-195 F).  Remove the pot from the stove top and let it cool to 50-55 C (122-130 F).  If you want to cool it quickly, place the pot in a sink full of cold water.  Once the milk cools, mix in the 1/2 cup of yogurt.  Pour the milk/yogurt mixture into glass jars.  Place the jars in a cooler, and fill the cooler with 55 C (130 F) water.  Let the cooler sit overnight.

To make Greek yogurt, place a strainer over a large bowl, and line the strainer with paper towels.  Pour the yogurt into the strainer, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours.  After that, flip the yogurt onto a plate, remove the paper towels, and scoop the yogurt back into the jar.

Crusty Bread

I would say that I looked long and hard for this recipe, but I found it over at Simply so Good after a quick google search.  I will likely be doing a lot of Janet's recipes (as long as she doesn't mind), since all the ones I've tried so far have been winners.

3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 cup Water

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Then add the water.  Mix until there are no dry spots left.  Cover the bowl, then let it sit for at least 12-18 hr.

Heat the oven to 450 F, then put a pot with a lid in the oven.  Be sure that the pot can stand that much heat: A dutch oven is probably your best bet.  After half an hour, remove the pot and carefully butter the bottom of the pot.  Put the dough in, cover it, and return it to the oven for half an hour.  Then, remove the lid and bake for another 15 min.  That's it!  Remove from the oven and let it cool.

No-Bake Cookies

Everybody loves cookies, and I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like no-bake cookies.

This recipe has been shamelessly stolen from my sister.  But seriously, you should check out her blog.

1/4 cup butter

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups rolled oats

Combine all ingredients, except the oats, in a saucepan.  Melt the mixture over medium heat.  Once the mixture is melted, increase the heat until it begins to boil.  Let it boil for a minute or two.  Take the saucepan off the heat and mix in the oats.  Let the mixture cool, then form it into balls on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap.  Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 45 min - 1 hour.  Keep the cookies in the refrigerator.